More than 10m Samsung Galaxy S3s to be sold by end of July

Samsung expects to have shipped more than 10 million units of its flagship Galaxy S3 handset by the end of July, the company says.

Despite difficulties in its supply chain - "It has been tough to keep up with demand," president of Samsung's mobile division Shin Jong-kyun admitted to reporters - the company expects to reach that milestone a mere two months after the phone's launch, with 300 mobile networks around the world carrying the device.

The figure represents global demand from mobile operators not actual sales to individual customers, though it certainly reflects the device's popularity.

In the wake of Samsung's failure to secure the necessary numbers of components for the Galaxy S3, including the casing for the much sought-after Pebble Blue colour, shares in the company's stock dropped over four per cent this week.

"The overall market condition was challenging due to eurozone issues and tight supply of components," Shin explained.

"Despite the tough economic situation in Europe and problems with supplying components for the Galaxy S III, the second-quarter earnings will be better than the first quarter," he predicted.

Samsung, which last year overtook Nokia as the world's biggest phone manufacturer, currently holds nearly a third of the global smartphone market share and more than half of the world's Android phone market share. The company expects to sell some 200 million smartphones this year, double the amount it shipped last year.

A recent study suggested that Samsung will remain dominent in the smartphone market for at least another two years.